school vouchers

Welcome to the United States of Scam-erica. Or Griftopia, as Matt Taibbi calls it in his book on the Wall Street meltdown. "There are really two Americas," Taibbi writes. For the grifter class, government is "a tool for making  money," while "in everybody-else land, the government is something to be avoided."

Not anymore. Here is the lesson Americans gleaned from the financial meltdown on and bailout of Wall Street: If the feds won't prosecute 'em, join 'em. Corruption has trickled down.

He must have been a telemarketer in a previous life:

"It is a beginning and it will be funded by corporations that believe in educational access for everyone," Stam told several hundred people attending the rally. "It will not cost the state money; it saves the taxpayers money while at the same time providing tens of thousands of scholarships for children whose families earn, for a family of four, up to about $50,000 a year."

It most certainly will cost the state money. Right out of the revenue coffers and into the hands of private schools:

In response to the Governor's Veto:

“Gov. Perdue's veto makes it more difficult to balance the state's budget without cutting teachers' jobs and negatively impacting our classrooms,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement. “And while her solution is to raise taxes that destroy private sector jobs, Senate Republicans refuse to reach further into North Carolinians' pockets.”

Extending taxes that have already been in place for the last two years isn't "raising" or "reaching further", it's revenue neutral. But what isn't revenue neutral is using public school funding to subsidize private schools via $2,500 vouchers to parents.

Can somebody hand Skip a copy?

Article IX, Section 2: "The General Assembly shall provide by taxation and otherwise for a general and uniform system of free public schools, which shall be maintained at least nine months in every year, and wherein equal opportunities shall be provided for all students."

And then there's Section 5: "The State Board of Education shall supervise and administer the free public school system and the educational funds provided for its support ..."

That second part should stamp "denied" on the idea for having a separate board, outside of DPI, to administer charter schools. If the GOP wants to adhere to the Constitution, that is.

If the voters don't like what you're trying to do, just call it something else:

The N.C. Association of Educators posted a video of House Majority Leader Paul Stam warning supporters not to refer to private school tax credits as vouchers. "The term voucher polls way below tax credit," he said. "So get it out of your vocabulary."

That's because the term "tax credits" is associated with a wide range of issues, not just the dismantling of the public school system.

In a move to fulfill their campaign promises to gut public education in North Carolina, Republican leaders are indeed pushing ahead with HB41, a half-billion-dollar giveaway to for-profit, religious and private schools.

Rep. Rick Glazier, a leading Democrat on education issues and a former school board chairman from Fayetteville, called the bill a direct assault on public schools. "I don't think taxpayers ought to be involved in funding private schools, nor do I think the taxpayers want their money going there," Glazier said. "It is not the constitutional mandate of the state to fund the private schools."

Via Binker's Capital Beat:

Brandon said he supports public schools and wants to make sure the tax credit won’t hurt public schools funding.

“And so this allows us to at least get in the conversation, maybe, as long as other side … protects public schools in addition to this,” Brandon said.

Have you been living under a rock, Marcus? Not only has the "other side" not lifted a finger to protect public schools or the estimated 6,000 teachers about to be fired, they're actively pursuing the dissolution of said schools, and this bill is a big part of that pursuit.

Via e-mail from the Puppetshow:

One idea the new leadership should give serious consideration is some version of tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools. Tax credits are an effective way of expanding educational opportunities for middle and low income students. In addition, tax credits can help to reduce overcrowding in public schools and reduce the student/teacher ratio.

This is (at least) the third time they've flipped on the issue of class size to promote their agenda to cripple the public school system. Here's what they said in June of 2009:

The ghost of Milton Friedman haunts the N&O:

Essentially the plan calls for per-pupil reductions in public school funding to be diverted to scholarships for students who wish to attend private schools.

the Passport program injects competition into the educational market. Currently, schooling in North Carolina is a near monopoly, with the public school system as the dominant "firm" in the market.

Actually, if the State wanted to save money the smart way, it would stop paying the salaries of community college instructors who promote idiotic ideas like this...

Last week the NAACP celebrated its 100 year anniversary. Saturday the NAACP of NC and partners led thousands in the 3rd annual “Historic Thousands on Jones Street”, the HKonJ rally in Raleigh to support a 14 point People’s Agenda for better schools and health care, equal justice, affordable housing, worker fairness, voting rights, environmental justice, and more. Point #1 advocates that “All Children Need High Quality, Well Funded, Diverse Schools”. Point #11 calls for “Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Support Smithfield Workers Right to Unionize.”

The NAACP of NC and 12 local branches have signed on to support the NC Hope Coalition in calling for the repeal of the ban in GS 95-98 on collective bargaining by public employees. The Coalition has a core of 11 labor groups including the SEANC, SEIU and NCAE and was an important element of the HKonJ rally. Some marchers wore yellow gags with the words “Repeal 95-98”. Just Monday the NAACP again showed its support for NC unions by awarding Richard Burr, Howard Coble and Americans for Prosperity a “Hypocrisy Award” for the misleading "Defense of the American Worker" campaign which opposes the "card check" bill. Just yesterday the NAACP of NC again expressed support for the “Employee Free Choice Act” even as conservative patron Art Pope stood with Richard Burr to oppose it.

So it comes as some surprise that the Executive Director of SEANC, Dana Cope, and the Legislative Director of SEANC, Ardis Watkins, have together taken steps to undermine the school diversity policy in effect in Wake County and to give succor to opponents of public education and in some cases, collective bargaining.